I have been without cable TV for over 14 years now. Well, that’s not entirely true; In the past I lived with roommates that had TV and I would watch on occasion. What each of these rare occasions reminded me is how annoying the advertising on cable television can be. After going years without TV and then watching a few ads I actually find myself laughing out loud at the stupidity of mainstream America. Why do you watch this crap?

When television first emerged as a new technology you needed an antenna, or as some of us so affectionally refer to them- “rabbit ears” to pick up a signal. Once you harnessed the signal being broadcast you could watch your television programs. Advertisements helped pay for the programming and since you were getting the programs for free, this seemed a fair trade. Fast forward to cable TV; We have a ton of channels to choose from, pay a monthly bill to the cable company yet are still subjected to a MASSIVE amount of advertisements. This is the reason I have refused to pay for cable for so many years.

One year on my birthday, my friend Adrian got me a WD Media Player. When attached to an external hard drive it worked as a GUI (graphical user interface) to allow me to navigate through my movies and tv shows stored upon the hard drive. This was before netflix streaming had become a standard thus was quite appealing. I still use the media player all the time and it is the easiest way to watch ad-free movies and tv shows on demand, instantly, whenever I want them. If you exit in the middle of a program, the next time you resume you are given the choice of resuming right where you left off.

Today media players have reached new heights and your options vary from a personal set up like the one described above to “Apple TV” or “Google TV” where you are plugged directly into an on-demand network. On these networks you can surf the web or play movies from your couch. Although the Apple and Google TV options are appealing, I still think that I will get the most bang for my buck (and stay away from ads) out of the external HDD and media player. Some of the newer media players have WIFI so you can instantly share and stream audio, video, and pictures from any computer connected to your home network.

Try it out and you too will be happy you made this choice. Here’s a step by step:

HOW TO break the shackles! OF THE EVIL CABLE COMPANY & CONVERT TO A DIGITAL MEDIA PLAYER:

About Jonathan G. Nelson

Jonathan G. Nelson is the editor-in-chief and owner of NERD TREK. He is also owner/publisher at AAW Games / AdventureAWeek.com, a tabletop gaming company based in Snoqualmie, WA.
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